Benecaid is a Toronto-based health benefits company founded in 2000.
What separates Benecaid from the other group health insurance providers in Canada is the way that they handle renewals. With that in mind, LSM Insurance sat down with Benecaid President and CEO Marla Schwartz to talk about what makes Benecaid’s renewal process different than their competitors.
“Our objective on renewals is that there are no surprises,” says Schwartz. “We make sure that the plan sponsor is getting the best value for the dollars that they are spending on their employees.”
Some, but not all, of Benecaid’s plans are based on an A.S.O. structure, which means there is a deductible in place.
“If you think about insurance, it’s a lot of people paying a small amount of money to protect themselves in case of an unexpected, catastrophic event. But when you think about health benefits, there is a lot of it that’s expected and not catastrophic,” continues Schwartz. “So we think, why pay a premium, when there’s no risk?”
So Benecaid’s plans separate out that which is unexpected, catastrophic and deserving to have a premium paid on it, from that which is predictable and not catastrophic, thereby making the plans more economical and manageable.
“Our objective is to review the plans and claims activity on a regular basis, so when renewal comes around, there aren’t any big surprises,” says Schwartz.
Benecaid’s innovation does not stop there. The second thing they do — this is particularly helpful to small businesses and entrepreneurs — is that instead of being reviewed completely on the basis of their group experience, employers are underwritten to become part of Benecaid’s block of business, which brings them in to a much larger group and allows them to benefit from a wider array of plan sponsors.
“The result is that the plans are economic, they are sustainable and they are much more predictable in terms of the expenses and the experience,” she confirms, while pointing to the fact that none of Benecaid’s plans had a premium increase and over 80% of their plans had no overall cost increase in 2013 because of these innovations.
Thanks to the lack of surprises on renewal, many independent insurance brokers are fans of Benecaid’s plans. The company also takes it upon themselves to manage and service the plan.
“We have lots of tools available for the advisor to provide insights on the plan,” says Schwartz. “We provide detailed reporting on the plan activity and claims utilization. We believe the plan sponsor has the right to understand how the plan is working and how the dollars are being spent on a privacy protected basis. We make it really easy for the advisor to use Benecaid for their clients.”
Benecaid provides tools and insights for their plan sponsors and the insurance advisors that represent those sponsors.
“We have a high retention rate based on service, value delivered and economic sustainability,” confirms Schwartz.
Marla Schwartz– learn more about Benecaid and all they have to offer on their website!
